You steer through a thin wheel, sitting low, almost touching the ground

It’s not meant to be easy to get hold of a Honda NSX in good condition. Not when it’s 18 years old, limited in numbers, hasn’t covered many kilometres and often holds a premium. Not in this part of the world. But as luck would have it, a friend of mine imported one from America, decided to sell it and now it’s sitting in my garage.

At one point though, it didn’t seem like I’d ever own one. I’d looked on the internet for what seemed like ages. The car that was once dubbed ‘the only Japanese Supercar’ was proving to be quite elusive as I trolled through forums searching for one, slowly beginning to get the feeling I’d never find one. When I did find a few examples I liked, I realised that it’d take several months to arrive in the UAE and I’d have to spend even more to get it looking the way I wanted it to.

But find one I did. And what used to be my friend’s car now seems like quite a catch. Model year 1991, 100,000km on the odometer (when I first bought it) , and a red-and-grey Alcantara-upholstered interior. Yes, it does have one or two modifications: carbon bonnet, a 2002 facelift (more modern, to my eyes, than the pop-up headlamps), different bumper, side skirts, rear valance, rear lights, an NSX-R spoiler, shorter gear ratios, a Titec bolt-on header and exhaust, racing clutch, RC 550 injectors, and Varianza rims. Price: $ 44,000.

It’s badged as an Acura (all American NSXs were named under Honda’s luxury arm), but that makes absolutely no difference. Even now, a few months after I bought it, I still get a buzz from the fact that I own one…

There were a few issues, though. The driver’s window got stuck (a typical problem with early NSXs) and the engine warning light came on, which meant the computer limited the engine to 4,000rpm to preserve itself (not something I’d wanted to see when I’d just bought it and wanted to enjoy my car). The window wasn’t a problem, but the warning light remained.

With an 18-year old car, there are no plug-and-play electrics, where you stick a cable in and find out what’s wrong; you have to do it the hard way, by the process of eliminating faults. After a month in the hands of Lap 57 the only garage in the UAE that I was willing to give the car to, it turned out that what was causing the light to come on was a little relay that was sending bad signals. Replacement cost: $ 100. No second guessing that I was pleased with that… If there’s one thing I’m looking forward to in the coming months, it’s the Japanese reliability: dependable and not that expensive to maintain.

What makes this NSX truly special to own is both its background and my personal obsession with Honda. In 1991, it cost $ 70,000, a price that was on the expensive side for any car, let alone a Honda. Despite that, every 30-something lusted after one. It was the first sports car to be manufactured entirely out of titanium and aluminium, and of course, it was co-developed by Ayrton Senna, which makes the NSX a bit of a legend. More than that, it was the car that changed the way people perceived Japanese manufacturers in the ‘90s. Not many cars can lay claim to that. What’s more, it was seriously underpowered when compared to its rivals of the day, yet it still beat them on the track.

Every time I drive it now, it puts a smile on my face. You steer through a thin wheel, sitting low, almost touching the ground, with your head at the same height as the wheels of off-roaders. Steering feel is still on a par with anything modern and it in no way feels slow, thanks to the short gears, short-throw gearbox and a clutch that has a biting point right at the top. Perfect when you want to make swift progress.

That combination, and the fact that Honda was now beginning to release its full potential in its road cars, is something that I think has passed through the company genes for several generations. The Civic Type R, for example, was a car I’d owned because it was a mild-mannered hatchback turned into a banzai rocket. Its handling was sharp and it screamed ‘Boy Racer’ (something I was a long time ago). The S2000 is another Honda masterpiece – I’ve owned one for five years now.

I drive the NSX now a few times a week, taking the S2000 on all other occasions. But every time I do, it still feels special. There’s still a massive hole in the centre console that I have to work on fixing by making some custom pockets, but as far as the car as a whole goes, I have a feeling I’ll be enjoying the NSX for a while yet…